Feel the burn: exercises that burn the most calories

Weight loss is big business, with experts suggesting the current global value of around £25 billion will continue to grow over the next few years. According to one projection more than 60% of UK adults will soon be classed as overweight, a scenario reflected across the Atlantic where a recent study found that 52% of Americans want to slim down. The answer, we’re often told, is a case of simple maths: calories in versus calories out, so all we need to do to lose weight is to eat less and move more. Or is it?

While the principle of energy balance and its link to body weight is sound, there are hidden nuances that make mastering the numbers more of a challenge than it might first appear. Firstly, not all calories are created equal, as some bring valuable nutrients whereas others are purely fuel and so referred to as empty. Also, when it comes to exercise it’s hard to know if what you’re doing is the most effective way of tipping the scales in the right direction.

Calorie burn during exercise is primarily dependent upon intensity, duration and body weight. You could opt to workout harder for a short time, as in the popular high intensity interval training (HIIT) method or reduce the pace but increase your sweat time, known as zone 2 cardio training. Either way the result will be the same, you’ll torch calories.

Discover our full range of fitness guides and find out how to work out at home, what is bulking and how to build muscle healthily. Plus, learn how much exercise should I do each day and discover the 10 best pre-workout meals.

What exercise burns the most calories?

HIIT is proven to deliver significant calorie expenditure but a specific version of it is the ultimate way to fire up your calorie-burning furnace: sprint interval training (SIT).

SIT is not for the faint-hearted as the clue is in the description, this is all about maximum effort. Although work periods are only short followed by relatively long rests, typically 15-30 seconds with up to 2-4 minutes to recover, after a few sets, your arms and legs will probably be begging for it to end.

Run up flights of stairs, cycle up a steep hill, swim like you’re escaping from a shark or row like your life depends on it, the choice is yours but sheer eyeballs out effort is the key to the impressive calorie burn associated with this approach.

How is calorie burn measured?

The gold standard involves wearing a mask during exercise to analyse the the amount of oxygen you breathe in and the carbon dioxide you breathe out, so this is reserved for the science lab and not accessible to most of us. Cardio machines in the gym provide estimates based on your sex, age and weight but don’t take into account your muscle mass, fitness level and basal metabolic rate, so can be somewhat inaccurate. However, fitness wearables, from watches to wristbands to rings, can monitor heart rate and, since this indicates effort, algorithms can be applied to calculate the number of calories burned during your workout, with some reliability.

Top 10 calorie burners

Try adding the following to your next workout to help you to win at losing.

HIIT: Gets your heart rate high and keeps it there

1. Burpee

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms by your sides. Drop into a deep squat, place your hands on the floor in front of you and jump your feet back to a high plank position. Perform a press up then jump or step your feet up to the squat position. As you stand up, jump and reach your hands up.

2. Mountain climber

Start in a press up position, shoulders above your wrists and neutral spine (hips not sagging nor bum in the air). Bring your right knee as close as possible to your right elbow then return and repeat on the other side. Try to keep your torso still and aim for a running motion.

Strength training: Burns extra calories after the workout as your muscles recover

3. Upright row

Hold a barbell or two dumbbells in both hands in front of your body with an overhand grip. Raise your elbow up and to the side to lift the weight up towards your chin. Lower under control back to the start position. Avoid swaying by setting feet apart and drawing your navel in to engage the core.

4. Chest press

Lie on a flat bench holding two dumbbells by each armpit with an overhand grip. Push up until your arms are nearly straight, then lower under control. Even though laying down, gently engage the core to avoid your lower spine arching.

Compound exercises: engage more muscles in each move, so use more energy

5. Thruster

Start by holding weights in the front of your shoulders and your feet hip-width apart. Squat down, then push up explosively into a standing position and simultaneously push the weights up to arms fully extended above your head.

6. Twisting lunge

Stand tall with feet together, holding a weight in both hands in front of and close to your chest. Take a long step behind with your right foot and drop the right knee to the floor at the same time rotating your torso to take the weight to the left. Step your right foot back up to the start position and repeat on the other side.

PHA training: alternating between upper and lower exercises taxes your body more

7. Bent over row

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, dumbbell in each hand, palms facing you. Now slightly bend the knees and hinge forward from the hips so the dumbbells are hanging in front of you at around knee level. Keeping your torso still and abdominals engaged, row the weights up to your hips.

8. Goblet squat

Stand with feet at shoulder-width, toes pointing slightly out and hold one end of a dumbbell with both hands vertically in front of your chest. Sit back into a squat, as low as is comfortable, then drive back up.

Loaded movement

Carrying extra weight boosts the burn.

9. Farmer's walk

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, by your sides, walk forward taking short, quick steps. Ensure the core is engaged, shoulders back, chest lifted and head up.

10. Step ups

Wearing a weighted vest (or a full rucksack) place your right foot onto an elevated platform and push up through your heel to lift yourself up and place your left foot on the platform. Step back down with your right foot, concentrating on flexing the hip and knee of your left leg. Repeat on the other side.

For more advice on how to achieve your fitness goals:

Lower ab workout: exercises for a stronger core
The best home gym equipment to buy
What are the best exercises to burn fat?
How long does it take to build muscle?
10 best bulking recipes
What to eat for a workout

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